Chapter 2

When I heard Sofia scream all my instincts told me to run to her and take her to safety. However my brain kicked in just in time. I realized that my parents were supposed to be with her. Therefore it was probably not a good idea to run in half cocked without a plan. My mom always told me to think before acting.

With this in mind I made sure I was armed with as many concoctions and weapons as possible. I wasn't sure what kind of enemy I was facing so I used a concoction that would mask my scent and dipped my daggers into poisons that would work on various opponents.

I began carefully making my way to the house where it sounded like a fight was breaking out. I heard glass breaking, grunts of pain and many loud voices.

Despite doing my best to handle this situation logically I could feel how unsteady my hands were. I trained excessively but had never been in a real true fight. We had always been well hidden and no one had ever found us..... until now.

I climbed a nearby try that was close enough for me to check out the situation, yet far enough that it was unlikely an enemy would spot me. Due to the shakiness of my hands I decided to use the weapon I was the best with. I pulled a dagger that was dipped in strychnine out of my left thigh pocket as I could now tell that the people around were dressed in all black fatigues and carried weapons like hunters. This meant the enemy was most likely all humans. Strychnine is a powerful poison that only a small amount is needed to kill someone. So even if my aim is off I only need to make a small cut and the poison will finish them off.

I spotted Dad on the side of the house fighting three opponents with another on the ground presumably already dead. I could also spot Sofia behind him crying with her back against the house. Her eyes were wide with terror. She was only 4 years old and hadn't had any combat training yet. Dad was holding up but even he couldn't last much longer as there were at least five more hunters that would join soon enough. Of the others I saw two searching the house and the other three were watching the surrounding woods. They were probably watching for anyone coming to interfere...... kind of like I plan on doing.

I couldn't figure out where Mom and baby Richard were though. I needed to get closer to find more information. I made my way through the tree tops to the opposite side of the house from my Dad as it would make me harder to spot. Once close enough I waited till a hunter who appeared to be middle aged with dark hair was passing below. At the right moment I jumped down landing on his back.

Despite how little I wanted to take a life, I had to protect the lives of my family and myself. So I quickly grabbed his hair pulling his head back and slit his throat before he could make a sound.

I hid his body haphazardly by quickly lifting him and taking the body into the woods a few paces. I also took leaves to toss onto the blood to attempt hiding it. I'll never forget his face he was the first man I killed but unfortunately he wasn't the last.